Hidden Depths
by Martenzo
Summary: While the Team is preparing for a simulation, three heroes from the Justice League face down a cult, liberating a young purple-haired girl from their clutches. Calling herself Raven, she resolves to fight evil and joins the team in their struggle against the supervillains of the Light.
1. Broken Chains

Update: Since I figured the first chapter could use an author comment, here goes. First, a bit of light on my plans with this story. I'm aiming for a minimal schedule of 1 chapter/month. Whenever I have the time (and no writer's block), I'll try to make it two chapters a month. In addition to rewriting Young Justice episodes to include Raven, I intend to rehash most (if not all) the Raven-centric episodes of Teen Titans into the Young Justice continuity. I'm also still figuring out the features of the site, so forgive the poor formatting.

It's good to see there are already people who have noticed and liked the story. There have already been two reviews, one of them asking for a Rob/Rae pairing. Hate to break it to you, but I just don't see a romantic pairing between them in this story, not without going seriously off-character with either Raven or Robin. I loved the pairing in Teen Titans, but the Robin of Young Justice is just too different. Too cheerful and carefree. The Raven-Robin 'Birds of a Feather' dynamic just isn't there anymore. I do see the potential for a very close Rae/Nightwing friendship, but that's already five years later in the storyline and I do have plans for a longer storyline planned for the interlude years. Reviews are much appreciated and I promise to read them all.

Ah, and I fixed a number of obvious typos with the update, too.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Young Justice, Teen Titans, Raven or any other character featured in this story.

**Chapter 1**

_Star City_  
_October 16, 04:33_

Green Arrow lifts the skinny middle-aged woman up by her robe and slams her into the brick wall behind her.

"Where are you holding them?" Green Arrow demands. His best impression of Batman is not good enough this time. Although Ollie can see the fear in her eyes, she's not afraid enough to talk. With a sigh, Ollie lets the woman down, only to fire a net arrow at her. At least she won't be running off.

The last month has been frustrating. Three young women kidnapped already and now the cult got away with a fourth. And his only lead isn't talking. With a life on the line like this, Ollie sighs and finally admits it to himself. He can't handle this alone. He opens a line to the Watchtower.

"Green Arrow to Justice League."  
"Captain Atom reading. What can I do for you, GA?"  
"I'm dealing with some kind of cult in Star City. I've got a lead, a captive, but I need help making her talk."  
"Come on, GA, you really need League backup for a something that simple?"  
"They've abducted a girl, Cap. I need her to get her talking fast or..." Ollie trails off with the sentence.  
"Alright. I'm sending Zatara." Captain Atom replies apologetically. With a freshly kidnapped victim, there was no room for errors or delays

"Esaeler Sdnib!" Green Arrow hears the woman speak behind him. Turning to look, he sees his net down on the ground and the woman trying to run. Deciding not to take chances, Ollie fires a tazer arrow at her. Failing to pay attention, the woman doesn't even try to evade the arrow, and is promptly knocked out by the electric shock. Looking at the net left behind, Ollie sees that it was carefully opened at the proper releases. She'd have to be a magician to... What have I gotten myself into? Ollie thinks to himself as he turns to his radio again. A different channel this time.

"Hey, Dinah. It's Ollie. Are you busy?"  
"Not really, why?" Black Canary replies  
"Remember those kidnappings I was looking into?"  
"Sure."  
"They've taken a turn for the worse. There's some kind of cult involved and my newest lead just used a spell to get out of a net arrow. The league's already sending Zatara to help, but..."  
"You've got a bad feeling about it. I'm coming as fast as I can." Canary replies, her voice serious. When GA had a bad feeling about something, it was rarely wrong

* * *

Thirty minutes later, the cultist awakens, firmly tied to a chair. She catches herself before she opens her eyes. Keeping them shut, she listens instead.

"So, what do you think, Zatara?" her original captor, Green Arrow asks.  
"I don't know what to think. I've never seen anything quite like it." the second man replies with a vaguely Italian accent.  
"What about her magic skills? Anything you can tell about those?" a woman asks.  
"That's what I meant, actually. Her aura is strange. Magically powerful, but unnatural. Most likely, the magic power was infused into her. I can think of a few spells that could do that."  
"What about the clothes, then? The other cultists wore the exact same robes, so it has to be a uniform of some kind. Anything you recognize?" Green Arrow asks.  
"Red and white color scheme, no visible markings. Too common for anything specific. I suppose I could come up with something, if I had a few weeks to consult the right libraries and experts."

Taking a careful peek, she sees that she's not unguarded. She sees the three superheroes guarding her, the renowned wizard Zatara, as well as Green Arrow and Black Canary. Realizing Zatara can force her mouth to talk, she takes a different way out. Not being gagged, she utters her last spell before anyone can stop her.

"Nrub Ym Hself!" she spits out.  
"No!" Zatara shouts as the bound woman is consumed by fire.

After several seconds of agonized screaming and unsuccessful attempts to put out the magical flame, the fires die, leaving only charred remains.

* * *

"Damn it!" Green Arrow curses, venting his frustration by punching the wall hard enough to leave a few cracks it.  
"Wait, the aura!" Zatara whispers, seeing that the unnatural component of the aura isn't fading away as auras usually do when a person dies. Instead, he sees the inky slivers form into a single cloud, before oozing out of the room.  
"Quick, follow me!" Zatara tells his companions, rushing after the magical energy as it travels. With its' host dead, the strange magical power must be traveling back to its' source.

Green Arrow and Black Canary fail to keep up, but Zatara manages to track the aura back to an abandoned foundry. He almost rushes in after it, but decides to wait for his backup. Not five minutes later, they arrive and kick down the door. Only to find the old foundry empty. After some searching, Green Arrow notices faint footprints in the dust, leading to and from the furnace. Prying open the furnace door, they find an ominous staircase leading down into darkness.

After reaching the bottom, they follow the faint chanting and eventually reach a large rectangular hall. The sides are lines with creepy statues of what look like skeletons dressed in the cult robes. On the far end of the room is an altar, along with the latest kidnapping victim chained on it. ON the balcony above the altar is a tall hooded figure. Most likely the leader of the cult. Between the heroes and the altar is the body of the cult. Twenty robed figures, all facing the altar and chatting in sinister language.

As the chanting gets louder, red runes across the room begin to glow, pulsating in a slow rhythm. Most notably, the glow reveals a figure behind the leader. A young violet-haired girl in a dark blue cloak, chained to the wall and surrounded by a magical circle of runes. With no more time to spare, the heroes open their attack. Green Arrow knocks out five cultists on the left with a rapid barrage of shock arrows while Zatara casts a spell putting seven cultists on the right to sleep. The center of the group is hit by the famous Canary Cry.

**"Interlopers!"** The cult leader booms with a low growling voice **"Destroy them!"**

The six remaining cultists turn toward the heroes and black energy flares up around their hands as they throw panicked spells at their opponents. Their chaotic counterattack ends in failure, as Green Arrow and Black Canary dodge the black orbs of energy and Zatara simply deflects them with a magical barrier. A few seconds later, all six cultists are down on the ground with the others.

**"That. Is. Enough!"** the cult leader booms again, rising to levitate a few inches above the floor, surrounded by a black flame and only a pair of gleaming red eyes can be seen under the shadow of his hood **"Silence!"**

With the last word, two bolts of black lightning, one from each hand, strike Zatara and Black Canary in their throats. Taken off balance by their sudden inability to speak and shout, the head cultist quickly follows up with a second pair of black lightning bolts, knocking both heroes to the ground with small arcs of black energy surrounding their bodies. Thinking the leader to be distracted, Green arrow fires an explosive arrow at him, only for the arrow to be enveloped in black energy and stopped in mid-air. Ollie manages to evade the first two lightning bolts, but the third skirts his leg and the fourth hits him square in the back.

The leader levels both his hands at Green Arrow to finish him when suddenly a voice shouts behind him

"No!" turning to see, the leader is immediately blinded by a flash of light. When the regains his vision, he sees the violet-haired girl rising from the floor next to Green Arrow.

**"Stand aside, girl."** he demands.

"No. I won't let you hurt anyone else." The girl exclaims resolutely, her hands glowing with the same black energy.

Looking down from the balcony, the cult leader seems amused by the girl's spirit for a moment. Then he fires two lightning bolts at the girl, only to have them blocked by an ebony barrier.

"You may have taken my power, but I can take it back." The leader's eyes widen in shock as he realizes how powerless he really is against the girl.

The three heroes recover and rise to their feet, shocked to see the young girl levitate to the ceiling and shout out her own spell.

**"AZARATH! METRION! ZINTHOS!"**

Black bolts of lightning surge forth from each cultist and strike into the girl. She yells out as a black wave of energy surges out from her.


	2. Decisions

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Young Justice, Teen Titans, Raven or any other character featured in this story.

* * *

Star City  
October 16, 07:33

Slowly, Raven regains consciousness. She feels the movement of cold wind around her and she realizes that she's lying on some hard, uneven surface. All her blurred vision can make out is a number of flashing lights coupled with erratic blaring noise. Her first thoughts are confused, but she attempts to pull together her confused mind and recall what happened.

Suddenly, she jolts up and tries to stand, but her exhausted body quickly forces Raven to her knees. After feeling around with her hands, she finds a bench nearby. Must be what she was lying on. Sitting down to rest, Raven looks around and her vision finally clears. She takes in her surroundings: the parking lot in front of the foundry, filled with police, paramedics and And she remembers. The cultists, their rituals, the three heroes who inspired her to use her powers and fight back. A nearby street lamp shatters as the rush of relief and defiance enters Raven's mind. She fought back against evil, for the first time in her life. She fought, and it felt good.

Instinctively, Raven is terrified by the realization. It goes against everything the monks of Azarath had taught her. To suppress her mixed emotions, she turns to meditate without delay. Her awakening has not gone unnoticed, however.

* * *

"Well, I'm guessing that wraps up this mess." Green Arrow says, looking at the cult leader, a bald Asian in his late fifties, being fitted with a power-suppression collar and put in the back of a police van.  
"We've all seen a lot worse. The cult was only kidnapping to recruit. The leader is going behind bars and the cultists should recover from his brainwashing with the right therapy." Black Canary admits in an unusually pessimistic tone.  
"But for some reason, it still feels like we lost." Green Arrow adds Canary's unspoken thought.  
"If it hadn't been for that young girl, we would have." Zatara says, looking at the unconscious girl resting on the bench of a nearby bus stop. "She's certainly a sorceress. I saw her aura after she had drained the cultists. It was as powerful as Doctor Fate's. But now, it is weaker than my daughter's."  
"Well, she did put up a big light show after she drained those cultists. Maybe she just used up her energy." Green Arrow suggests.  
"Perhaps..." Zatara strokes his chin, unconvinced.  
"Is it really that important?" Black Canary asks "The way she jumped in to protect Green Arrow. She's a hero at heart, even if she doesn't know it yet."  
Canary watches as Raven wakes up and immediately tries to walk.  
"I'm going to talk to her." She says to the others as she approaches the hooded girl.

Raven's eyes are closed as she adopts the lotus position on the bench and mutters her chant under her breath. She feels someone approaching, but ignores them.  
"Hello." a friendly voice acts. One of the heroes. Black Canary, Raven recalls her from a news story a while back. _*Ignore her. Meditate. Azarath Metrion Zinthos.*_

* * *

After a second hello, Canary realizes she's being ignored. But she decides to keep going "You know, you really saved us down there. I wanted to thank you."  
As Black Canary talks, Raven senses the intent in Canary's emotional flow. Raven stops her chant, but her eyes remain closed as she distrustfully adds "And interrogate me."  
Taken aback, Canary objects "No I..." when she realizes it wasn't an accusation. It was a statement. "Are you.. reading my mind?" She finally asks  
"No." Raven answers without emotion. Her eyes open, though her face remains as neutral as ever.  
Canary sits down next to the girl and says "We're not your enemies. Trust me." She tries to put a reassuring hand on the girl's cloaked shoulder, but meets a black barrier a few inches from the cloth.

Raven turns her head toward Canary "Don't. Touch me." her quiet voice stresses the words.  
_*What on earth did they do to her?* _Canary grimly thinks to herself "You still haven't told me your name." she points out.  
The pale skinned girl turns her gaze back to the distance and replies "I'm Raven."  
There's a brief pause of silence. Surprising Canary again, Raven is the one to break it. The young girl throws an irritated glance at her, saying "Ask already."  
_*Either she lied about reading my mind or she's a lot better at reading people than I am* _Canary realizes as she complies "Do you... want to talk about what they did to you?"  
"No." _*I'm losing her, aren't I?*_ Canary thinks, but then Raven surprises her again, as she sighs "But I will. The ritual you interrupted was going to infuse some of my magical power into the girl they had kidnapped. After that Brother Blood, that's what their leader calls himself, was going to brainwash her to be another one of his loyal foot soldiers. His plan was something about magicians taking back their place as rulers of the world. It didn't make much sense, to be honest. Blood himself had some psychic powers, but his magic was just from having infused my energy into himself. Five times."  
"The ritual itself... I was just trapped in that magic circle and the runes forced energy out of me. It was exhausting, sometimes painful," Raven takes a deep breath and for a short moment, her eyes look sad "But I'm no stranger to hardship."

There is a long silence. Raven resumes her chant as Canary contemplates the girl's situation. A question soon pops into her head and Canary asks right away, realizing that honesty and directness are the best options to win Raven's trust.  
"Why did you help us?" Raven stops chanting and doesn't react for several seconds. _*Did I actually surprise her with that?*_ Canary wonders.  
"I don't..." Raven begins with a deep breath and bows her head a bit, turning her jaded gaze into the ground. _*I did surprise her. She didn't just stop chanting, she was shocked enough to forget breathing.* _  
Raven composes herself quickly, though, and gives a proper answer "I got tired of being a bystander. Of being a tool. I realized I could actually use my magic to fight back."  
"I shouldn't have done that." Raven mutters to herself fearfully  
"You did the right thing, Raven. And I promise you, you won't regret doing it again." Black Canary reassures the young sorceress "But you don't need to do it alone."  
"What.. are you suggesting, exactly?" Raven asks, her puzzled look masked by the shadow of her hood.  
"There's a team of young heroes you could join. At the very least, you would be safe there. You wouldn't have to worry about getting kidnapped by people like this Brother Blood." Canary says.  
Raven begins to retreat back into her emotionless facade when Canary offers a less intimidating option "If you're not sure about it just yet, I could arrange a visit first. You could meet the team with no obligations attached."  
Raven turns her head to face Black Canary and actually makes eye contact this time. Over a very long two seconds, the girl's violet eyes seem to look directly into Canary's soul. The sad gaze inspires an unusual sorrow in Canary's own soul, but she forces herself not to look away.  
Somehow, Canary realizes rejection is the worst thing she could do to Raven.

No longer showing any emotion on her face, Raven turns her eyes away from Black Canary and impassively stares at the ground in front of her. The next few minutes pass in relative silence, except for the occasional police car or ambulance departing the scene.  
"I need some time to think about it." Raven finally replies.  
"Of course." Black Canary replies with a warm smile. Canary stands up and walks back toward Zatara and Green Arrow. Then she recalls something important and turns back toward Raven.

"Wait, how are you..." she stops, shocked to see that Raven has disappeared in the two seconds her back was turned "...going to contact us." The end of her sentence fades to a whisper as she realizes Raven is no longer there. The sudden Batman-style disappearance throws all her judgments into the wind.  
Curious about the outcome, Green Arrow asks Canary as soon as she rejoins him and Zatara "How did it go?"  
Black Canary stares into his eyes for a few seconds, then admits it "Honestly, I have no idea. She said she needed time to think about it. I thought I had her figured out, but then she just vanishes before I remember to share some kind of contact information. Looking back on our talk, I can't tell if she was really considering my offer or just trying to be left alone long enough for the disappearing act."  
Canary sighs as she continues "It's almost like she's closed off her heart to the outside world."  
A second later, her eyes widen in shock as she realizes _*Oh, God...She reminds me of Batman.*_

* * *

Ten minutes later, Raven arrives at her apartment, if you could call it that. It was a run-down room in a spooky abandoned hotel at the edge of Star City. There had been a fire here at some point, which had destroyed the stairs to her floor. Occasionally, a homeless person or two would seek shelter in the building, but they had little reason to try and climb up to Raven's floor. There were intact rooms below.

Raven's room was untouched, though she hadn't been here for almost a month. Besides the typical hotel furniture, there are three heavy wooden chests in the room. What really makes them look out of place is their elaborate carved patters, not matching the plain wardrobe and nightstand. Opening one of the chests, Raven takes out a somewhat creepy stone-framed vanity mirror. She stares into it, bringing it ever closer to her face, until her head sinks into the mirror followed by the rest of her body.

Raven stumbles out of the Forbidden Door and finds herself in her usual dreary mind-scape. She surveys the area to see if anything is off after her uncharacteristic emotional release. Sky is still black with the odd red streaks. The trees are still dead. And in the distance, she can see four more island formations besides the one she's standing on.

Wait, four? That's not right. There should only be three. With a mental command, she calls for all her emotions save for one important exception. Raven's taken aback as three emotions rise from the ground in front of her. She expected the yellow-cloaked Intelligence and Timid in her gray, but the green cloak is new.

"Alright. First things first. Who is that?" Raven demands from Timid and Intelligence, pointing at the figure in green.  
While Timid only shrinks and cringes away, Intelligence adjusts her spectacles and answers "That's Courage. She formed when you stood up to Brother Blood. She's not dangerous."  
"Hey!" Courage objects to Yellow's judgment.  
"Compared to Red, I mean." Yellow elaborates, which calms Green down.  
"I'll deal with you later, Green." Raven glares at the comedic exchange before she moves on to the next issue "Right now, that's not why I'm here. What do you think about Black Canary's offer. Yellow, you first."

Intelligence adjusts her glasses again and begins after a few seconds of composing her thoughts "There are good arguments for both options. Joining the team would provide us with safe haven and a safety net for our powers. If nothing else, we would finally have the time to come up with a long term plan for our future." Yellow concludes the positive side  
"On the other hand, joining a team, any team, would put them at risk from our powers. To pull our weight in a team, we'd have to get emotionally involved with our would-be teammates. And when the time comes, our teammates would be something Father can use against us."

Green spontaneously continues the discussion "Listen, if we were in a team, we'd have a better chance to fight evil. It'd be training for when we have to face Father. Sure, Yellow might know all the theory, but in the end, combat experience beats dusty old books. I say we join."  
Finally speaking up, Timid whispers "No. We shouldn't join them. You know we're not strong enough to stand up to Father. We can't make friends. We'd just get them killed. And what happens when they demand to know what we are? Or figure it out on their own? They'd never trust us if they knew."  
Raven turns to Yellow, asking "You're the tiebreaker."  
Yellow sighs and says "I'm sorry. I don't have an answer either way. I abstain."  
"Great." Raven says sarcastically "My own mind is in deadlock."  
"Not... necessarily." Intelligence states ominously and turns to look at one of the floating islands in the distance.  
With a heavy sigh, Raven decides it's time to collect the last vote. She needs an answer, even if it means having to face her nightmares.  
"Green, you're coming with me." Raven orders, expecting the emotion to shirk away.  
"Hooah!" Green replies with a confident war cry. In fact, she seems downright eager to stare down Red. Green's confidence rubs off on Raven herself as her fear of facing Red fades.

As the pair of Ravens walks along the stone path, Raven finally decides to make a bit of small talk with the new emotion. "So, are you going to make your own realm or do you want me to make one for you?"  
"Man, I haven't even thought about it yet. Yellow's library is too boring and Gray's labyrinth is way too depressing for me. And the prison you made for Red... I think I'll make my own realm." Green replies with some enthusiasm.  
"What do you think it'll be like?" Raven continues the conversation, out of politeness more than interest.  
"I've got a few ideas. A gym or wait. No! An arena. Wait, I know. A..." Green excitedly beings talking Raven's ear off with her loud thinking.

After a long time of listening to Green while walking along the stone path, Green falls silent as they stand before the arch that marks the beginning of Red's realm. Raven takes a deep breath and steps through, followed by Green. The open mind-scape transforms into a large hall. The bleak gray stone walls are lined with three floors worth of prison cell doors. All doors are open, save for one directly ahead. Sneaking away from Raven's side, Green peeks into one of the open cells and sees its' walls covered with some impressively hateful graffiti. Her own battle-taunt ideas are nowhere near this scary.

The ground and walls tremble as an enraged, inhuman scream echoes across the hall. Raven and Green carefully approach the closed cell door where the screaming is coming from. By the time they reach it, the screaming has stopped, leaving only the heavy breathing of the emotion within. She lifts her head to face her two captors, revealing the four hateful red eyes under the hood of her red cloak.  
"Hello, Rage!" Raven says grimly

"You know why we're here, Red" She adds, hoping to get the vote out of her darkest emotion quickly.  
**"Release me!"** Red booms, throwing a withering glare at Green  
"No gonna happen, psycho." Green replies with her bold enthusiasm.  
One again, the room trembles from a primal scream as Rage tries to pull free from the chains that bind her to the wall of her prison cell.

After a long effort, Red gives up on breaking free for the time being.  
**"My answer is yes."** Red flatly answers to Raven's demand.**  
**Raven lowers her head and says "That's the decision then. We're not accepting the offer."  
**"WHAT?!" **Red and Green reply in unison, though Green can barely be heard over Red's imposing voice.  
"You heard me. I'm never giving in to you, Red. I won't risk setting you free" Raven declares resolutely.  
Red replies with a sinister laughter. **"Really now? Deny it all you want, Raven. But I'm not something Father planted in us. I was born from **_**your**_** hate, not Father's."**  
"No! You're lying! I'm not like Father!" Raven fearfully tells herself. Stunned by Red's words, Raven falls to her knees and Green, realizing how Red is trying to break free by breaking Raven first, starts dragging Raven toward the exit.  
**"True, I want to be free."** Red continues with her demonically reverberating voice, admitting her ulterior motive **"But I don't have to break free. With training and confidence you might eventually become strong enough to control me. To use me. To embrace me."**

Raven covers her ears, but Red's voice is too strong **"You will never defeat Father without me."** Red shouts a final parting shot as Green exits with Raven under her arm, barely able to support herself. The journey back to the portal passes in silence and the shaken Raven returns to reality without saying a word to her other three emotions.

It's past noon by the time she wakes up on her apartment floor. Although she spend far longer in her mind-scape than she intended, Raven finally has her answer.

* * *

Star City  
October 16, 14:44

Black Canary is walking into a deserted alley, to the secret zeta-tube and to relieve Captain Atom from his monitor duties. Suddenly, she feels eyes watching her. Turning around, all she sees is a pitch-black raven on top of a trash can. She's about to relax and head on to the Zeta Tube, but then her eyes meet the raven's and she realizes something is wrong. Ravens usually don't have red eyes. The raven caws and flies past Canary, circling in the air between her and the Zeta Tube.

Slowly, the black brid gets bigger, eventually transforming into a formless mass of black energy. Instinctively, the heroine prepares to defend herself. As the black mass takes form and color bleeds into it, she recognizes the young goth girl and her blue cloak, levitating a few inches above the ground. As soon as Raven's feet connect with the ground, the girl falls to ger knees, breathing heavily.

"You're a hard hero to find, Black Canary." Raven quips between her shallow breaths. "But I've made my decision."  
Arching her eyebrow at the dramatic entrance, Canary quietly waits for the answer.  
"I accept your offer." Raven says as she recovers her breath and stands up.  
"Okay," Black Canary acknowledges "But that entrance was a bit..." Canary avoids saying the word creepy aloud "Just how powerful are you?"  
Suddenly leaning her hand against the nearest wall and rubbing her forehead, Raven carefully answers with a blush red enough to be seen even with the shadow her hood provides. "I uh.. I was really just trying to impress you. Now I know the headache I'll get from it isn't worth it." she ends with a dry-witted joke

Canary decides not to press the issue right now, realizing the question is a sore spot for some reason. "Alright. Come on, let's go and meet the team." Canary smiles. And for the first time in a long while, Raven's mouth curves into a small, happy smile.

* * *

A/N: A long chapter, to be sure. The dialogue in this chapter kept giving me trouble. I didn't want Raven to be forced to reveal too much about herself, but on the other hand, she had to tell enough to earn some trust from Canary. Next up, meeting the Team just before they're go into their psychic training simulation.

Update: Made a few minor changes to the ending, namely a less impressive entrance for Raven. I'm trying to keep her powers at least somewhat consistent and avoid giving her very useful powers that only ever get used once.


	3. Making Friends

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Young Justice, Teen Titans, Raven or any other character featured in this story.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Mount Justice  
October 16, 14:50

**"Recognized. Black Canary, One-Three"** the computer announces the arrival. Inside, she's surprised to find that the main room had been redecorated. Six heavy metallic blocks have been placed in the training ring, arranged like the spokes of a wheel. Ignoring it for the moment, Canary activates the Zeta-Tube computer screen and types in the access codes.

**"Access Granted. Raven, A-Zero-Four. Authorization. Black Canary, One-Three."** The announcement interrupts Manhunter's explanation of the upcoming simulation as the six young heroes approach the Zeta-Tubes to meet the visitor. A young girl, about the same height as Megan, covered from head to toe by a dark blue cloak held together by a clasp made from a dark-colored gem of some kind. Most of her face is covered by the shadows of her hood, though her skin is clearly an unhealthy gray.

"Um... Hi!" Raven meekly says, the fake confidence she had managed to display to Black Canary deflated by the large number of heroes present in the room. She casts her eyes to the ground, trying to avoid eye contact. Her obvious discomfort rubs off on the team, making them ill at ease as well. Even Black Canary and the other three leaguers in the room are affected, causing an uncomfortable silence.

_*Is it just me or is New Girl really creepy?*_ Wally asks the others through their mind link.  
_*I dunno, maybe she's just into the goth look.* _Robin replies, uncomfortable, but willing to give the girl benefit of doubt.

Black Canary breaks the silence and makes the formal introductions. "Raven, this is the Team." she motions to the six heroes.  
"Team, this is Raven. Last night, she helped me and Green Arrow and Zatara defeat a cult in Star City. Or more accurately, she single-handedly took down their leader after he had knocked the rest of us to the ground." Canary admits, embarrassed of the second half.

Stunned by the impressive accomplishment, Robin is the first to overcome the shocking revelation and properly greet Raven.  
"Hi! I'm Robin" He cheerfully starts, pointing at his fellow heroes as he continues "And that's Wal-err Kid Flash, Superboy, Miss Martian, Aqualad and Artemis."  
"And Wolf." Superboy adds, patting the head of the large canine next to him  
Composing herself, Raven quietly nods in response. _*They're actually trying to be friendly, even though my aura creeps them out like everyone else.* _she thinks to herself.  
"A pleasure to meet you, Raven." Aqualad sincerely says, extending a handshake "Are you here to join the team?"  
Not wanting to offend, Raven accepts the handshake "Thank you, Aqualad, but let's not get..AH!" A small flash of electricity shocks both herself and Aqualad as Raven's hand brushes against Kaldur's eel tattoo.

"Sorry!" They both apologize simultaneously. Both immediately surprised that the other is apologizing.  
"Those tattoos..." Raven hesitates, her curiosity overcoming her fear "They're magical, aren't they?"  
"Yes, they are. You are familiar with the mystic arts?" Aqualad asks in return.  
"Uh... Yes, I am." Raven admits _*Maybe this won't be so bad after all.*  
_"I don't know what happened." Aqualad says apologetically, scanning his hand and the mystical tattoo. "It's never gone off on its' own like that."

While Robin giggles, holding back his laughter and Artemis smirks at the unintended innuendo, "Hello, Megan!" M'Gann announces, knocking at her own head "Would you like a tour of the Cave?"  
"Sure, why not." Raven slowly replies, her inner tensions finally relaxing.  
"You have one hour" the deep voice of Batman tells them "Then it's time to start the training exercise."

The first stop on the tour is the lounge, with its' open kitchen and large plasma TV. Miss Martian is talking about the (obvious) features of the room, when Kid Flash asks awkwardly "So, uh... what can you do?"  
While Raven is thinking of a good answer, Robin asks another question "Oh, and what's the story with you saving **_three_** big time League heroes? I mean, if they couldn't handle the situation, how did you?"  
Her train of thought derailed by the second question, Raven replies abashedly "It wasn't really that impressive. I didn't do all that much to defeat the bad guy. He uh...defeated himself more than anything."  
Puzzled, the Team looks at Raven inquisitively and she starts at the beginning of the story. "The guy and his cult kidnapped me and used a special ritual to copy my magic powers to their cultists. When I jumped between Green Arrow and the cult leader, he started throwing my own magic at me. I just kind of... absorbed it back, I guess. It happened so instinctively, I didn't even realize what I was really doing until I had drained all my power back from the cult."

By the time the story is finished, the group has made their way to the rear exit of the Cave, and its' amazing view of the ocean.  
"Huh." Robin says quizzically "I guess that makes sense."  
Noticing the inconsistency, Aqualad asks "But then... how did they kidnap you in the first place?"  
The hard question stops Raven in her tracks.  
"I never thought I could fight them." Raven finally admits with shame "Where I come from... I was raised to be a pacifist. But I felt... responsible. So I made a choice..." She doesn't elaborate further.

Trying to change the topic, Raven recalls Kid Flash's question. Her legs leave the ground, and she levitates a few inches above it, at the same height as Miss Martian.  
"Well, I can levitate myself." Raven says as she demonstrates. A sudden breeze of ocean wind brushing aside her cloak and revealing the black leotard, blue boots and shapely figure underneath. At first, Raven doesn't mind the breeze, but then she notices the boys are all blushing, including Aqualad and Superboy, who she had thought to be more mature.

She blushes as well as she moves on "I can also levitate other things." She envelops half a dozen small rocks with black energy and has them dance around in the air for a little while before letting them drop back to the ground.  
"Then, there's what I used back in Star City" She says, as she raises her hands and erects a black, semi-transparent dome around herself and the Team.  
"Whoa!" Is Wally's first reaction. Aqualad's is a bit more serious  
"Raven, stop." He demands harshly. Stunned by his tone, Raven complies and the dome disappears.  
"What's wrong, Kaldur? I thought it was kinda interesting." Superboy asks, surprised by Kaldur's reaction.  
"This is shadow sorcery." He says gravely "Manipulating shadow as an element is incredibly dangerous, even for master Sorcerers. Until now, I truly did not even think it could be done."  
Protesting to hide her insecurity, Raven insists "I know what I'm doing."  
"I'm... naturally attuned to the element. And I've been training for as long as I can remember." Raven elaborates, having picked up on Aqualad's initial disbelief.

"You were raised as a pacifist, but trained from childhood to use something so dangerous?" Aqualad asks with suspicion.  
Thinking quickly, Raven tries to come up with an honest explanation that doesn't give away her heritage. A few seconds later, she sighs. "I was hoping I could keep it secret, but... I'm a natural empath. I can sense the emotions of people around me."

Immediately alarmed, Artemis nearly shouts, grabbing her own head as if it made a difference "What? You mean you're..? I don't know how it worked where you came from, but you've got _no_ right to poke around in my head. Get out of my head, _right now!_"  
Except for Miss Martian, who suddenly becomes very restrained with her emotions, the others seem to agree with Artemis' sentiment, quietly glaring at Raven. "It's not like that." She desperately tries to explain "I.. I just pick up surface emotions like anger or fear or, or..." She keeps trying to think of a positive example "Or defiance. And the worst part is, I can't even help it."

Recalling a parallel her mentors used to describe Raven's abilities to others, she explains further "It's kind of like hearing. Even with my training, the most I can do is equivalent to covering my ears. I hear a lot less than I normally do, but loud emotions still get through."  
Though Raven soon locks up from desperation and the effort of controlling her emotions, she manages to suppress her telekinetic powers.

Finally, Raven begins to calm down when Miss Martian speaks up in her defense. "I think I understand, Raven. You weren't trained to _use_ shadow magic. You were trained to _control_ it, so you wouldn't hurt anyone by accident."  
Raven can only nod in agreement as she continues to calm herself down.  
Processing what M'Gann had said, Kaldur realized his judgment had been a bit premature. "I see. Raven, I apologize. I was... too quick to judge. You would certainly not be the first hero who has had difficulty controlling their powers."

With a relieved sigh, Raven regains stable control of her emotions.  
"Thank you, Aqualad, Miss Martian." She says. Raven removes her hood, revealing her face to the Team for the first time. Strangely beautiful, despite her unusual pale-gray skin and the short violet hair that matches her eyes.  
"No hard feelings?" she asks, apologetically extending a handshake to Artemis  
"Sure." Artemis says, accepting the handshake, concerned that the others would get suspicious if she refuses the apology. That they'd realize she really does have something to hide.

The tour continues, with Raven being guided past the showers, the gym, a very high-tech medical bay and the actual living quarters. Aside from Miss Martian recounting the history of Mount Justice between describing the rooms, the rest of the tour is quiet until the Team makes it to the hangar.

As the last stop on the tour, M'Gann demonstrates the Bio-Ship stored in the hangar.  
"And this, is our ship. It's what we normally use for transport when we go on our missions."  
Truly amazed for the first time during his visit, Raven asks "It... it's alive, isn't it?"  
"How did you know?" M'Gann asks, surprised, quickly realizing "Hello, Megan! You just told us you're an empath. Of course you can tell she's alive."  
"No time to go for a ride, though. Only ten minutes before we need to get back." Kid Flash says with disappointment.

As the team unhurriedly heads back to the briefing room, Aqualad chats up Raven.  
"You know, I just realized you never answered my first question." Aqualad points out "Will you be joining the Team?"  
Once again weighing the question in her head, Raven answers "I think so. But I don't know if I'll be joining you on missions right away. I might know sorcery, but the fighting part is completely new to me."  
"When I was kidnapped, the option of using my powers to fight didn't even occur to me until I saw Black Canary and the others fighting the cult." Raven continues.  
Thinking on Raven's words, Aqualad says "Black Canary is the Team's combat instructor. I'm sure she wouldn't mind giving you a few private lessons if you explain your situation to her."

Reaching the briefing room, Robin has an idea. "Hey, Raven. I have an idea. We're about to start a virtual training exercise. You could join us there and we could safely teach you to fight. Worst case, you get killed and wake up."  
"It is a possibility, but we cannot do it for this exercise." The Martian Manhunter shoots down Robin's plan "The virtual reality we are creating is based on a strong psychic link between the participants. Adding another mind to it would require additional preparation. Preparation which I do not have time for at the moment. Perhaps she can join the next training exercise." the Martian offers gently.

As the Team lies down on the slabs and the exercise begins, Raven takes heart and approaches Black Canary. Following Aqualad's suggestion, Raven explains her pacifist upbringing and her empathic powers to Canary.

While doing so, Batman carefully pays attention to every word of the mysterious girl's explanation. Logically, every word of it makes sense, but there's an unusual feeling in his gut. For some inscrutable reason, Batman feels like the explanation is a carefully worded lie of omission. In these cases, he can usually see an inconsistency in the story or a physical giveaway in the liar's body language. But this girl is different. Her voice and body language betray no emotions in any direction. This time, Batman's suspicion is only a feeling. And he realizes it might not be a good idea to protest just because of a feeling. At least Batman can keep an eye on the powerful sorceress if she's with the Team.

As he makes a mental note to go over Raven's story with Zatara's consultation, Raven and Black Canary head for the gym.

* * *

A/N: Well, Raven's been introduced to the Team. Fitting Raven in with the Team was easier than I expected. I was afraid her personality would infringe on the niches of other characters (SB's anger issues/Artemis' snark/MM's powers) more than it did. Miss Martian's powers still concern me a bit, though. Because, let's face it, they've got a lot of overlap: telekinesis, flight, intangibility, telepathy/empathy. Sure, Miss M doesn't have Density Shifting yet and she'll never have healing hands or teleportation. Raven, on the other hand, has no shapeshifting or camouflage (besides turning into a creepy-looking raven).

Now, as I said in the update of the first chapter, I don't see a Robin/Raven pairing happening in this story. If anything, I'm leaning for a Kaldur/Raven (KalduRaven?) pairing. By far the most likely possibility, though, is that I won't put Raven in any kind of explicit romantic pairing. That said, Hidden Depths is a larger project for me, but it certainly won't be my only fanfic. I fully intend to write a few one-shots pairing the Raven of this story with other Young Justice characters.

Bottom line: please stop asking for Rob/Rae pairings in the reviews. It won't happen in this story, but might happen in a one-shot after I've finished this storyline.


	4. Healing

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Young Justice, Teen Titans, Raven or any other character featured in this story.

* * *

Chapter 4

Mount Justice  
October 23; 18:11

"So, Raven" Black Canary begins the talk session "How have you been settling in with the team? I understand you've decided to join, despite some of the... recent events."  
"Well enough, all things considered. But why am I here?" Raven asks with sincere curiosity, though her voice remains as passive as usual "I was never part of the training exercise."  
"No, but that doesn't mean we have nothing to talk about." Canary answers "You were held captive by a cult for almost two months. I think it's time you talked about that."  
"There's nothing to talk about." Raven replies resolutely  
"You were trapped in the middle of an insane cult for that long, and it didn't affect you at all?" Canary asks with disbelief.  
"No." Raven coldly replies at first. An obvious lie.

"You're in denial." Canary concludes bluntly  
"Or at least not enough for me to lose control of my emotions." Raven elaborates, ignoring Canary's inaccurate conclusion.  
"Interesting. Your first concern is controlling your emotions." Canary attempts to provoke a reaction.  
Raven remains silent, her violet eyes boring into Canary's cool blue ones. The piercing gaze, though not nearly as hostile as the one from Artemis not long ago, chills Canary to the bone, and she breaks the silence.  
"Raven, I'm only trying to understand you. If I don't understand you, then I can't help you."  
"You can't help me." Raven whispers with resignation.  
"But I still want to try, Raven." Canary replies "I want to help you, if only you let me."

Raven sighs "My powers are closely tied to my emotions. To keep everyone around me safe, I don't allow myself to feel anything." she explains.  
"That... can't be easy." Canary replies, surprised by the honest answer.  
"All power has a price" Raven quotes the most fundamental rule of magic. "That's the price I pay for having mine."  
"Wait, are you telling me you _chose_ this?" Canary asks with complete shock  
"NO!" Raven's eyes widen and every panel of glass in the room cracks as she angrily protests.

Taken aback by her sudden loss of control, Raven's voice immediately lapses into timid whispers.  
"I... I should go." she apologetically says, as she transforms into a black mist and sinks into the floor.

* * *

"I was the general, but behaved like a soldier and sacrificed myself. I am not fit for command and must resign as team leader." Aqualad sums up his lesson with resignation.  
"Who do you recommend to take your place?" Canary asks in response.

Thinking of his fellow teammates, Kaldur considers each of them.  
"Artemis is too raw and untrusting. Kid Flash too rash and impulsive. Miss Martian remains too eager to please. Superboy carries too much anger. Raven is too cautious and hesitant." he eliminates five of them immediately.  
"Making Robin the logical choice." Canary says  
"But he is so young" Kaldur sighs  
"Kaldur, you're all young." Canary reminds him.

"I cannot shift this burden to him. Not yet." Aqualad concludes with new found certainty.

* * *

"It was all my fault" M'gann says "Hello Megan. Who else could take a simple exercise and turn it into a nightmare that terrorizes everyone she cares about."  
Her green skin turns pink as she finishes her sentence. "You've turned... white." Canary says  
Megan gasps "No!" looking at her hands, she calms down, realizing what Canary meant "Oh! You meant Caucasian."  
"Yeah. I'm, fine, being Megan." She says hesitantly "But I can't be trusted to use my other powers."  
"M'gann, you're martian." Canary reassures her "Not using your natural abilities is like me refusing to speak."  
"Which, by the way, I tried for a while" Canary continues with a personal admission "After my very first canary cry nearly deafened my entire first grade class. So I get how you feel. But not being yourself is never the answer and won't make your feelings of guilt go away."  
"Learn from what happened. Your uncle would be happy to train you. Practice, until you've gained control and regained confidence." Canary finishes her pep-talk.

"Actually, I already asked Raven for help." Megan admits to Canary as additional training is brought up.  
"She gave me a strange look and turned me down." Megan lowers her head, pained by recalling the rejection she felt. "Why did she do that?" she wonders aloud, not really expecting any answer."  
"I don't know. But I think she understands how you feel. Perhaps better than I do." Canary tells Megan.

* * *

A/N: Alright. Despite being a short chapter, this took me a while. I had planned for a longer chapter, but ended up scrapping everything and starting over two times. Fortunately for you, I got past my over-ambitious plans and made this version: Episode 17, extra details, hold the cheese.

6tailedninja asked me several questions about Raven. Here are some answers. This Raven is mostly modeled after the cartoon series version, since I've never read the actual Teen Titans comics. That said, I have looked over TVTropes articles and a DCU wiki for some additional information. I can tell for certain that Raven's empathy will be played up more than it was in the cartoon. She can project a fear aura, but I don't know if she'll ever use it. Raven's 15th birthday is on November 6th.


	5. The Missing Sword

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Young Justice, Teen Titans, Raven or any other character featured in this story.

Chapter 5

* * *

Mount Justice  
October 31, 19:30

* * *

Halloween. One of the few holidays Raven didn't mind observing. Zatanna and Artemis had even talked her into wearing a costume for the party, the third witch in their themed group. Zatanna as the maiden, Artemis as the mother and Raven herself as the crone. Still, Raven didn't feel like putting more than a token effort into her costume. A mask to cover her face and a gray dress instead of her leotard. Despite her lack of effort, the result was quite impressive. Shrouded in her regular midnight blue cloak, she definitely resembled a shrunken hag when she hunched her back a little.

Unfortunately, something else has claimed her attention on the Cave's computer. A museum in New York claimed to have the Sword of Beowulf on display. Raven was trying to figure out of this could be the genuine article, an artifact of considerable mystic power. Searching through electronic records was not Raven's forte, but the computer was surprisingly intuitive.

A loud howl interrupts Raven's concentration. She throws an irritated glance at Wolf, only to realize with exasperation that Wally was the culprit and the smart animal was behaving.  
"Really? You're not gonna join it at all?" Wally asks the animal "What kinda wolf are you?"  
"The smart kind." A deadpan reply comes from Raven "You've got a lot to learn from him."

As Megan continues to help her boyfriend with his Mummy costume, Conner chuckles at Raven's dry humor. He calmly tells Wally to stop torturing the animal. As Wally goes on another hopeless attempt to 'put the moves' on Megan, Raven stops paying attention.

_How can anyone be that oblivious? _Raven thinks to herself as she returns to her work. Zatanna and Artemis arrive by Zeta tube just as Raven's comes across a police alert. A break-in was reported less than an hour ago at the same museum she was looking into. Suddenly, she gets a bad feeling that this wasn't a coincidence.

Raven turned to look at Zatanna and Artemis. She'd promised to join them at the costume party. Maybe just this once, the Team could hand something over to the Justice League. Walking closer, she overhears the two talking.

"So.. How long have Conner and Megan been a couple?" Zatanna casually asks Artemis.  
_I had to ask, didn't I?_ Raven thinks to herself as Artemis reacts. At first she denies it, but her heart quickly sinks as she looks at the affectionate pair of aliens. As Zatanna realizes her mistake and apologizes, Raven joins their conversation.

"I take it you're not in the mood for the party anymore, Artemis." Raven says.  
"No. But then again, sitting at home with my mom doesn't sound much fun either." the archer replies.  
"Well, there is another option." Zatanna says, snapping her fingers "Egnahc sehtolc otni ruo smrofinu!"  
A cloud of white smoke engulfs the three girls as their party costumes are replaced with their heroic outfits.  
"Girl's Night Out." she says as Artemis smiles in anticipation of some action.

"So, which city?" Artemis asks as they prepare two motorcycles for their trip "Gotham? Metropolis?"  
"How about New York?" Raven suggests "I actually have a bit of uh... detective work to do there."

* * *

Artemis and Zatanna stop their motorcycles, noticing the emergency vehicles surrounding the museum.  
"Whatever happened here is long over." Artemis remarks, disappointed.  
"Still, this is my stop." Raven says, getting off Zatanna's motorcycle and heads for the museum.  
"Come on, Raven. I was hoping to see some action, not chat it up with a bunch of cops." Artemis argues.

"Like I said before. Detective work. If you think this isn't worth your time..." Raven's voice trails off as she heads for the museum, leaving Artemis and Zatanna with their motorcycles.  
Artemis glares at Raven's back as the emotionless girl ignores her.  
"What's her problem?" Artemis asks Zatanna "Does fun hurt her or something?"  
Uncomfortably, Zatanna replies "Uh... don't take this the wrong way, Artemis, but I'm going with her. There's so much I want to ask her and I don't get the chance to talk about magic with people that often. People other than my dad, anyway.

"Are you gonna be fine stopping crooks on your own?" She asks the archer apologetically.  
Artemis looks at Zatanna for a while, unsure whether or not she should feel offended. Finally, she decides to let it go.  
"More fun for me, I guess." Artemis revs up her engine and the tires screech as she turns the motorcycle around.  
"See ya." Artemis glances back at Zatanna before she departs on her hunt for would-be muggers.

Zatanna quickly catches up with Raven.  
"So... what's this about?" Zatanna asks her cloaked companion  
Raven sighs ever so slightly and asks "Have you ever heard about the Sword of Beowulf?"  
Zatanna thinks for a moment "No. I don't think so. I'm guessing it's a sword?"  
"Obviously." Raven rolls her eyes before continuing "And a very powerful magical artifact."  
"The sword grants its' wielder supernatural strength and resilience. Some legends even claim it shoots lightning bolts" Raven explains the nature of the sword. "According to every legend, only the pure of heart can use it."

Raven waves her hand vaguely in the museum's direction "This museum advertised having the thing on display. I was trying to trace the artifact these people had found. I wanted to figure out if it was the genuine artifact or not. And then I found out the museum had a break-in."  
"That's a bit too convenient to be a coincidence." Zatanna admits "But if only the pure of heart can wield it, why worry so much?"  
"The legend doesn't mention pure good." Raven answers with a grim note in her voice and Zatanna realizes her concern as she sees several policemen carted out of the building and into the ambulances.  
Raven sighs, looking at the large number of police officers guarding the entrance "I guess we'll have to sneak in. Come on."  
Zatanna follows Raven into the dark alley next to the museum.

"Hey, Raven?" Zatanna asks shyly as they walk along the alley looking for a back door.  
Raven doesn't reply, but stops and slowly turns her head, waiting for Zatanna's real question.  
"I've been meaning to ask you about magic." Zatanna says nervously, before realizing she still hadn't asked anything yet "Like... those words you use. How do you use the same words for different spells?"

Raven remains silent, not sure how best to put it. "The words just help me focus. To be honest, I don't really use spells the way you and your father do."  
"So..." Zatanna thinks how to phrase the next question the answer "How _do_ you use magic then?"

"It's complicated." Raven evades the question "And we don't have time for a lecture."  
"Oh." Zatanna feels defeated for a moment "But... why don't use incantations? Wouldn't your spells be more powerful if you did?"  
"I suppose they would be, but it's too dangerous with shadow magic." Raven says, now deliberately misleading Zatanna. Not that the emotionless girl had any tells. "You know how fire spells tend to get out of hand if you put too much power into them?"

Having practiced a powerful fire spell after the incident with Red Tornado's 'siblings', Zatanna nods "Sure."  
"Shadow is even worse than fire, since it's not a natural element." Raven explains "The margin between too much and not enough is relatively small."

"Wait. What are we doing?" Raven suddenly stops as the two heroines walk along the back wall of the museum.  
"Uh... looking for the back door?" Zatanna asks, not quite understanding what the cloaked girl meant.  
Raven smirks and turns to face her teammate "Have you ever used astral projection before?"  
"No." Zatanna replies.  
_Why is she asking me about... oh no. _She realizes when Raven throws the side of her cloak at her. Zatanna doesn't even have time to notice that Raven's cloak distorts unnaturally as it's thrown, expanding to envelop her, rather than leaving Raven's side.

Zatanna attempts to back away, but it's no use. A moment later, Zatanna is submerged in a cold, black void. She quickly becomes disoriented as her senses contradict each other. She feels like she's breathing ice cold air while drowning. Thankfully, the discomfort doesn't last long, as she's suddenly expelled from the black space and lands on her stomach, reassuringly firm stone tiles under her.

Looking around, Zatanna sees that Raven is also off her feet, kneeling on the ground. Both of them rise to their feet and Zatanna is about to express her shock when hears footsteps. Quickly realizing they're not supposed to be in the museum, she grabs Raven's arm and pulls her behind one of the display cases.

A flashlight illuminates the area and they hear voices obscured by the echos of the large museum. Peering out, Zatanna sees two men in uniform, police no doubt. Eventually, the two officers turn their attention elsewhere, dismissing the noises they heard as something mundane. With the police gone, Zatanna finally pulls herself together enough to whisper "So.. that was astral projection?"

Raven nods. Her face looks pale..er.  
"Are you okay?" Zatanna asks. Raven winces just before her face hardens.  
"I'm fine." She states coldly.  
"So... feeling like drowning didn't freak you out at all?" Zatanna asks with a hint of sarcasm.  
Raven says nothing and simply glares at Zatanna, ending the discussion.  
_Yikes! Robin told me Batman could glare _anyone_ to silence. And I thought he was joking. But if Raven can glare like that..._Zatanna shudders, trying not to imagine how harsh Batman's glare might be, if Raven, a girl several years younger than her, could glare like this.

The two magicians proceed to investigate the museum in an awkward silence until they come across the display where the Sword of Beowulf was at.

* * *

Artemis was pissed. First she'd found out her hot white rabbit (Conner) was already taken. Then Zatanna runs off after the creepy goth. Fortunately, a store alarm attracts her attention. Now, she's got a chance to vent her frustration.

Soon enough, two masked thugs are pinned to the wall by her arrows. She barely had to slow down her motorcycle.  
_Damn! I wish someone had been here to see that._

On the roof above, an odd young man with a torn coat, no shirt and a sword observes the quick fight between the archer and the criminals.

* * *

After looking at the empty display for a few seconds, Raven turns her attention to the scorch marks a few feet away. She kneels at the the lager set, examining them in detail.

"So, what do you make of this?" Zatanna whispers to Raven  
"This, is very bad." the hooded sorceress slowly replies "It wasn't just stolen to be sold. The thief stole it for themselves."  
"I think the legends about lightning bolts are true." The hooded sorceress continues.  
"First the police here." she gestures to the large cluster of scorched stone tiles at her feet.  
Raven then levitates over to the smaller cluster near the doorway "Then finishing off the curator here."

Soon, the two magicians are in the security room of the museum. The security guard inside is asleep, courtesy of Zatanna's quick spell. Seeing the records of the theft and the fight should give them the face of whoever has the sword now.

Looking over the security film, Raven notices that the thief pauses for a few moments after finishing off the curator. Talking to himself. Unfortunately, there is no sound to go along with the moving picture.

"What are you up to..." Raven mutters to herself staring at the screen. The guy had drawn the Sword of Beowulf, so he had to be pure of heart. Obviously, this guy was not pure good. First, he takes down everyone in the room. Makes sense, he's evil and violent. Then things stop making sense. He doesn't kill any of them and pauses after zapping the curator. And he disappears, instead of going on a rampage. Is he pure evil or pure violence?

_What does he want? _Raven thinks to herself, carefully turning to the darker side of her personality _If I had new powers, what would I want?_  
_**A challenge. **_A hateful voice answers inside her head.

"Zatanna, I think I know what he's after." Raven says, pinching the bridge of her nose. "He wants to fight a superhero."  
"But there aren't any League heroes in town. They're probably all at the Halloween party Captain Marvel went to." Zatanna points out.

"He'll find som...Artemis!" Raven's sentence suddenly ends in a shocked whisper when she realizes there are superheroes here in New York. And one of them is specifically out looking for trouble.

* * *

A/N: First, I apologize for the delay. I ended up splitting Chapter 5 into two chapters. For the most part, because I'm still not happy with the action scenes in the second half and probably wouldn't be able to finish them without completely slipping on the one-chapter-a-month schedule I've set for myself. I hope I'll get back on schedule and post chapter 6 early next month.

Ice Jazz Elleth said in her review that she has trouble visualizing Raven. I do have an image in mind. Search for 'Young Justice Raven' on deviantart. The first two results should be pictures by glee-chan. One of them is the adult, post-timeskip Raven, the other is the current teenage version. In fact, those two pictures where the ones that finally drove me to get off my ass and write this fanfic.


	6. No Harm Done

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Young Justice, Teen Titans, Raven or any other character featured in this story.

Chapter 6

_Dammit!_ Artemis thinks to herself as she finds her arms restrained behind her back by one of the lecherous thugs that were about to attack an innocent girl on her evening jog.  
_At least she was smart enough to ran away while the thugs were distracted. _She glances at the jogger who's already too far for the thugs to catch up.

But now, the young archer's hands are restrained by a strong pair of hands and she is surrounded by four of the worst kind of criminal.  
_Animals... _She thinks with contempt, realizing that there was only one thing they could have wanted from the late-night jogger.  
A second thug, an overweight bastard, is facing her with a wicked grin, with two of his equally lecherous friends behind him. But Artemis isn't out of tricks yet. Her father had made her practice getting out of restraints. Bringing handcuffed hands from behind her back to her front. Except this time, she was going to rotate her entire body while her hands were still restrained by the thug behind her.

In a blur of motion Artemis braces her feet on the fat criminal's gut and face and before the crooks realize what's going on, Artemis is standing behind the thug that was restraining her a moment ago. She immediately uses the inertia of that acrobatic move throw the thug over her shoulder. Then, the excruciating pain shoots through her shoulders, reminding her of her limits.

_Damn! Should have remembered that happens._ Artemis painfully recalls how she had never been as flexible as her sister. She'd have no trouble with the four thugs normally, but with both her shoulders almost dislocated...  
Artemis' eyes widen as she takes a deep breath _I can still win this. I just need to go all-out._

She takes a fighting stance as the first two thugs attack her. Artemis dodges a clumsy punch from the first thug and charges past him. These amateurs were just too slow to keep up with the assassin-turned-superheroine. First, the archer punches the second thug in the throat to stun him. Artemis then turns her attention back to the first thug. A kick from behind and he's on the ground. But Artemis is not finished with him yet. While he's on the ground, Artemis kneels down on his upper leg and lifts his left foot up. With the foot in her hands, she forcefully twists it sideways. With a sickening crack, the foot is suddenly at an angle that a foot really shouldn't be at.

The man screams for a moment before passing out from the pain. Then Artemis realizes her fatal mistake. She turned her back on her opponents. Unexpectedly, she hears a girl talking gibberish. Then there's a crash and a muffled scream behind her and she turns. The second thug is wrapped in... what looks like his jacket turned into bandages A third thug is lying a few meters away. On the ground near him Artemis sees a park bench that looks like it was thrown into the thug and what looks like a switchblade knocked out of the criminal's hand.

With a smirk, Artemis turns her attention to the overweight thug, the last one still standing. A few second later, the man is passed out on the ground, his right arm dislocated at the elbow. Raven and Zatanna approach the archer in green.  
"Hey, thanks for helping out" Artemis calls out to them, breathing heavily "I was actually in trouble there for a moment."

The shock of seeing their companion use such brutal techniques briefly puts aside the reasons why they were looking for Artemis in the first place. As they head back to the parked motorcycles, Zatanna carefully calls out Artemis on her methods.  
"You know, there were other ways to take them down, Artemis." she points out uneasily.  
Raven remains silent and unreadable.  
"Hey, I was in a bad spot back there. Besides, the bastards had it coming. No harm done." Artemis objects, defending her actions.

[Break]

_That's a dangerous philosophy _Raven is about to say, when she suddenly feels her blood freeze. Every inch of her body is on edge, warning her of mortal danger.  
Instinctively, Raven crosses her arms in front of her face and a black wall of energy appears in front of the three young superheroes. That very second, a lightning bolt strikes their motorcycles and both vehicles violently explode.

Even with the wall shielding them, the three heroes stagger from the explosion. Without it, the force of the blast would surely had knocked all heroes off their feet. Raven's concentration falters as she staggers backwards and the ebony wall fades away.

"Oh indeed. Harm is not done." A sinister figures marches through the smoke and fire left by the explosion. A shirtless, muscular young man in a long, torn coat with jagged scars on his face. In his hands, he holds a sword and a strange scabbard. A crest glows on his chest, right over his heart.  
"Much Harm, left to do." He continues, staring at the three heroes with a faint smile on his lips and murderous intent in his cold eyes.

* * *

On a nearby rooftop, a young girl in a white cloak looks down at the destruction with great sadness in her eyes.

* * *

"The its cannot escape Harm." the sinister man states, slowly marching toward the three heroes.

"Escaping isn't on the menu" Artemis retorts, falling on her knee to fire shots from her bow in rapid succession.  
"Its arrows do not impress." The man voices his disappointment as he nonchalantly slashes the arrows out of the air with his sword.  
"Fine." Zatanna points the palm of her hand toward the new enemy "Taeh taht s'nop..."  
Raven interrupts, grabbing Zatanna's wrist and states "No. He's too powerful. We need to fall back."

Though unhappy with the prospect of retreat, Artemis doesn't argue "Fine, but only to regroup."  
"I'll keep him busy, but I need you to carry me out of here." Raven says, her request making no sense to the other two heroes.

"Wha.." Artemis beings asking for an explanation of the contradictory sentence, but she's cut off by a loud shout of Raven's mantra.  
"AZARATH, METRION, ZINTHOS!" Raven cries out. A large bird, a pitch-black raven with glowing white eyes appears, seemingly coming out of Raven's body. Raven herself collapses to the ground as the giant bird assaults Harm.

Gathering her wits, Zatanna notices a figure in a white cloak beckoning her into an alleyway. "Artemis, get Raven, we're leaving."  
Artemis huffs as she lifts Raven's body onto her shoulder.  
"Man, she's heavy." She comments as she heads into the alleyway Zatanna was heading for.

For a moment, Zatanna turns around and casts one last spell.  
"Erif nrub, nordlauc elbbub!"  
The fire of the burning motorcycles rapidly expands, encircling Harm and the large black raven he is fighting, obscuring them both from sight.  
Zatanna then follows Artemis into the alley.

* * *

Amid the inferno, the struggle between Raven and Harm continues.  
"Its' magic is quite impressive" Harm gloats as he deflects the clawing and biting of the great bird

"But not impressive enough!" Harm grins, believing that victory is at hand.  
He leaps backward, landing perilously close to the edge of the fire surrounding both combatants. With some distance between him and his opponent, Harm points his sword at Raven and lets loose a lightning bolt.  
The lightning crackles around Raven without having any obvious effect on the bird. No shrieks of pain or staggering, as Harm had expected. Harm continues to grin at the situation, though for a different reason.  
"Perhaps Harm was mistaken. The it's magic _is_ impressive enough. Harm thought the archer would be good sport, but instead Harm has found a true challenge."  
Raven merely caws loudly in response and charges Harm once again.

Harm continues to handily parry the bird's ferocious attacks with his blade, though he fails to find an opening for a counterattack.  
"It recognized Harm's power and told its' friends to flee. The pathetic it cannot hope to defeat Harm while it stains its' purity with such compassion."  
Raven stops her assault when she hears that accusation. Then, she rises to the skies hoping she's bought enough time for Artemis and Zatanna. Harm, thankfully, remains trapped in the circle of fire for several more minutes.

* * *

"Secret!" The girl in white repeats herself in response to Artemis' questions about Harm.

Then she points to the skies, and the two heroines turn to look. They see a large dark figure descending toward them, hard to make out against the night sky. The heroines assume a defensive stance and Artemis fires an arrow at it, but it simply passes through the black bird. The bird then flies right past the heroines into the body of Raven, who immediately regains consciousness, gasping for air.

The girl in white is gone without trace.  
"Hey, where'd she go?" Artemis asks her two companions, looking around for the girl that was just here a moment ago.  
Zatanna is instead checking on Raven, now recalling with excitement "Are you okay? I can't believe you pulled off magic that complicated. I mean..."  
"I'm fine. But we need to keep moving. Harm isn't far behind." Raven cuts off the other magician. "We need to go, now!" she insists, a twinge of fear seeping into her voice.  
"There's three of us, and one of him." Artemis objects "We can ambush Harm here and take him down."  
"Sounds like a plan." Zatanna agrees, then she notices Raven backing away from the ledge and sees the fear in her eyes.  
"Listen Raven, I know you're inexperienced, but you'll do fine." Zatanna attempts to reassure Raven "There's no need to be afraid of Harm."

Raven's expression quickly hardens as Zatanna suggests that she's afraid.  
"I am not afraid of Harm!" Raven loudly denies her fear. Yes, the emotional purity reminded her of her father, but Harm was definitely not her father. No need to be afraid.  
"But I need a while to regain my energy." Raven quickly says  
Then she added little white lie to ward away questions they didn't have time for "That big astral projection spell took a lot out of me."

Unfortunately, that's time she doesn't have, as Harm leaps up onto the roof.

"At least they make the hunt interesting." Harm says as he briefly stops on the edge of the roof.

Artemis and Zatanna improvise and combine their abilities and the terrain, a brilliant attack in Raven's opinion. Artemis' arrows break a water tower and the water washes over Harm as a wave. Zatanna then freezes the water as it's washing over Harm, encasing him and the sword in ice.

Unfortunately, the ice hold mere seconds as Harm's chest symbol begins to glow stronger, shattering the ice. Now seeming furious, Harm sends out some kind of shockwave from his sword to destroy the empty water tower as a show of force.

Artemis and Zatanna run for the next rooftop as Raven is already levitating ahead of them.  
"Hey, Zee, do you see little miss Secret anywhere?" Artemis asks  
"Over there!" she says, turning to run in that direction.  
"Okay, these boots. Adorable, but for a chase sequence. Lacitcarp raewtoof won!"  
And with a puff of smoke, Zatanna's heeled boots become flat at the sole.

* * *

Soon enough, the three heroes are forced to make another rooftop stand as they've lost sight of their mysterious guide. In less than a minute, the battle ends in a stalemate with Artemis' pointing her backup crossbow at Harm's face, while Harm's blade is against Artemis shoulder.

"You wanna play without the toys?" Artemis suggests, hoping to break the lethal stalemate.  
With his usual wicked smile still on his face, Harm puts away his sword, replying calmly.  
"It tries to bait Harm. Leave Harm weak."  
"But Harm has no weakness" He states resolutely as he plants his sheathed sword into the rooftop.  
Harm sheds his coat, and assumes an unarmed combat stance. In response, Artemis puts away her crossbow and assumes her own stance with a satisfied smile. Then, she charges in, only to have Harm easily evade and parry her every strike. He even has time to make casual comments about Artemis' lack of focus and proclaim his own purity.

"Okay, Raven. You need to pull yourself together. I'm not strong enough to make a difference, but I'm pretty sure yours is. You've got to do something" Zatanna tells the other magician in the team. She approaches the sword.  
Raven clenches her fist for a moment. Then, she closes her eyes for a moment and an unnatural calm washes over her as she opens them.  
"Alright, there's something I can do." Raven says to Zatanna, shocking her with how suddenly Raven had gone from teeth-clenched fear to unearthly calm.  
Raven grips the handle of the sword, but for some reason doesn't try to pull it out. Instead, her eyes begin to glow white and energy flows back and forth between her and the sword.

Whatever she did, Harm was genuinely shocked, his smile disappearing for the first time.  
"How is this possible? It held the sword but the sword did not reject its' impure heart." He demands for an explanation, dropping his calm superiority in favor of barely contained outrage.  
Out of hand, barely acknowledging his opponent, Harm grabs Artemis leg in the middle of her kick and throws her away.  
Raven releases the sword, but the white glow on her eyes continues, and her own expression changes as well.  
"You... monster..." Raven slowly states, a barely restrained fury evident in her voice. The expression on Raven's usually emotionless face is a downright frightening mask of rage.

With her telekinesis Raven tosses the sword back to Harm as two night black swords appear in her own hands.  
"You will pay for what you've done." Raven grimly swears. Strangely, it feels as if Raven is referring to something specific, to everyone present.  
"What does it know about Harm?" the scarred young man demands suspiciously. But his creepy smile slowly comes back onto his face when he realizes that Raven is not going to hold back anymore.

* * *

Harm and Raven charge at each other, their swords loudly clash together. The black sword in Raven's left hand disappears, but the other remains to keep the parry. As the two warriors separate from each other, Raven flying backwards to prepare for another charge, a new sword appears in Raven's left hand, clearly the same kind of magic she uses for her barriers.

The battle between the two rapidly escalates in speed and the strength of blows. Surprising both Zatanna and Artemis, Raven is actually pushing Harm back. The two heroines follow the battle, though they quickly realize they're little more than an audience now.

"So, Raven's apparently badass when she pulls herself together" Artemis remarks to Zatanna as the battle moves from rooftop to rooftop.  
"So that's what shadow magic looks like." Zatanna says in response "Not sure why she was afraid of Harm if she can do that."

Ignoring the magician talking to herself, Artemis continues to observe the fight, until she noticesa figure in white on a nearby rooftop, waving.  
"Hey! Isn't that Secret over there?" She says. "Come on, it's time for some answers."  
The follow the girl in white into a building as the destructive battle between Harm and Raven continues outside.

* * *

The battle has briefly descended to ground level.

A blast from the sword slam's Raven into a wall hard enough to leave a Raven-sized dent into the second story-wall. Raven resumes her levitation as soon as she feels herself falling. Looking down at Harm, Raven counterattacks and a giant black hand... No. A giant black claw shoots out of her hand, grabbing Harm and then brutally pushing him along the ground, dragging a trench into the asphalt.

Harm comes to a rest in front of a shop with a broken pink neon sign. Abel's House of Secrets.

"This.. This is Harm's street." Harm says angered even further.  
"How does it know? How does it know Harm's secrets? Answer Harm!" he demands.  
Raven stops her attack and decides to comply "The sword knows how Harm became pure. I never tried to claim the sword for myself. I simply spoke with it, and it told me what Harm did."  
A strange inflection is faintly present in Raven's voice, almost as if a few more voices were whispering around her, echoing her words.

With that, another of Raven's large claws hits Harm, this time from the side, smashing him through a wooden fence.

* * *

"This is your grave, isn't it? This is your secret. This is you." Zatanna says to the ghost that just rose up from the grave. Greta Hayes, beloved sister according to the wooden plank marking the grave.

The ghost says nothing, she simply looks at the ground with sad eyes.

"A ghost. An actual ghost." Artemis states the obvious in disbelief.  
Zatanna rises to her feet after the shock of Greta suddenly rising from the ground as a ghost knocked her off her feet.  
"How did you die?" Zatanna asks.  
With a blue sword, the ghost creates an illusion of a weapon.  
"Harm's dagger!" Artemis says, but immediately takes cover as something is thrown through the wooden plan that encloses the small courtyard.  
As the flying splinters settle, both girls recognize Harm.  
Raven herself descends into the courtyard soon after him. Her face has only gone angrier since her two companions last saw her.  
"They defile Harm's holy place!" Harm growls as the three heroes.  
**"**_**We**_** defiled it?" **Raven practically screams with her unnaturally distorted voice. **"You did this! To your own sister!"**

Harm stands and another smirk appears on his face. Raven seems to be shaking with rage in response, but not attacking just yet.  
"You're proud of it?" Artemis asks with shock and anger "And you have the gall to write beloved!"  
"Not gall. Truth." Harm replies, his voice raspier than before as he explains "She was the only thing Harm ever loved. That's why she had to go. Harm's heart had to be pure. Greta had to be cut out. Excised like an infection."

Harm gasps, shocked by how a perfect image of Greta rises up from the grave. But he quickly composes himself.  
"Ah. It casts an illusion spell." He says, rationalizing it as Zatanna's spellcasting  
"Except I didn't speak" Zatanna replies, turning back to Harm. "Harm knows it can't cast a spell without speaking."  
The ghost steps forward, approaching Harm.  
"Face it Harmster. Your secret's out."

"No! Harm's heart is pure!" he denies his regret, lifting the sword to repel the approaching ghost.  
"Harm's not sorry! I'm not!" He repeats, fear creeping into his face.  
Greta marches directly into the raised sword, creating an illusion of being stabbed in the heart once again.  
Harm gasps in pain as the ghost reaches into his heart and pulls out a golden orb of energy.

The orb quickly disappears in Greta's palm and Harm responds with one last ineffectual slash from his sword. Then, the sword suddenly hits the ground, too heavy for Harm to lift. The sinister hand on the sword's sheath becomes alive, attempting to grab Harm. As Harm struggles with the hand, the sword itself attacks him and he quickly lets go of the sheath to dodge the blade. In a matter of seconds, the sword is resting on the ground, firmly sheathed.  
"I.. I don't need the sword!" Harm growls at the heroes, but freezes when she hears Raven's voice.  
Raven laughs, her voice cold sinister and cruel, freezing even her friends. "No, Harm. You really do."

Pointing her open palm at Harm, Raven fully encases him in black energy and forces him to his knees. Then, she levitates Harm's dagger out of his coat pocket and grabs it out of the air.  
As Raven approaches the magically-bound with dagger in hand, Artemis yells  
"What are you doing Raven? You're not seriously..."

"And why not?" Raven asks, turning her glance toward Artemis and Zatanna. They notice with shock that Raven's eyes are now glowing solid red. A bright, hateful red that feels like they would burn you alive if you stared at them too long.  
"He deserves it!" Raven declares, echoing the very words Artemis had spoken earlier today.  
"Raven..." Zatanna says the name slowly, the tone of her voice speaking louder than the word itself: You don't want to do this.

Two black hands appear from the ground beneath Artemis and Zatanna, fixing them in place as well.  
Raven continues to approach Harm, lifting the dagger. Then, secret steps between Raven and Harm, and stares deep into the red eyes.

Raven gasps, collapsing to her knees and dropping the dagger. The red disappears from her eyes and the black energies fade from around all three people.  
Harm sees opportunity and grabs the dagger. He prepares to strike at Raven while she's stunned, only for Artemis to knock the weapon out of his hand with a crossbow bolt.  
The unarmed fight between the two is downright anticlimactic, though fittingly ironic, as Artemis echoes the same taunts Harm had used on her less than thirty minutes ago.

With Harm knocked unconscious, and bound by Zatanna's spell Artemis turns to berate Raven.  
"What the hell, Raven?" She yells "You were going to kill him! What's wrong with you!?"  
"I.. I'm sorry. I wasn't... I..." Raven is, unfortunately, at a loss for words. But the regret in her voice is genuine. Even Artemis can tell as much. Since police sirens are approaching, the three heroes clear the scene before they arrive.

* * *

The three heroes are walking back to the zeta-tube hideout, thanks to having lost their motorcycles earlier. Artemis considers this a good time to hear Raven's explanation for what she did before reporting the incident to Aqualad. Maybe even Batman. Artemis admitted to herself that she's a bit more vicious that others in the team, thanks to who she grew up with. But a teammate that's outright willing to kill is a bit much even for her.

"So... Raven. Care to explain what happened back there?" Artemis inquisitively asks the sorceress. Suspicious, but not pressing too much. After all, she did go head-to-head with Harm who had easily trounced Zatanna and Artemis combined.

Raven sighs, and begins her explanation "That was.. what I was really afraid of about fighting Harm. That's why I can't go all-out on anyone. Shadow magic is dangerous because it messes with my emotions if I use too much of it at once. It drastically changes the way I think. I start to enjoy using my power. That's why I suppress my emotions all the time. To suppress the emotions that I feel when using shadow magic. But there's only so much I can suppress. If I go over my limits.. well. You saw what happened. I'm sure I can control it... as long as I don't have to take on villains as strong as Harm by myself."

"So... what about the sword?" Zatanna asks, holding up the heavy thing and skillfully changing the uncomfortable subject.  
"We take it back to the Cave." Raven says "That thing is too dangerous to be on public display."  
No-one had objections.  
"Hey.. Raven." Zatanna suddenly stops, having considered Raven's explanation "I'm not going to tell what exactly happened at the end there. Not right away, at least. You should tell it to Aqualad yourself. Because obviously, secrets don't stay buried. You with me on this, Artemis?"  
"Uhh.. sure. Okay. We'll leave it out until Raven tells it herself." Artemis agrees, suddenly uncomfortable about something. A faint trace of guilt on her face that nobody else catches.

* * *

A/N: Another late chapter. Last minute, in fact. Barely got it uploaded in this month. February was going to be hectic to begin with, and then I get knocked out by flu for longer than I could afford. On top of that, I had a case of writer's block for this chapter and spent some time on fleshing out later chapters, the story finale in particular. Obviously, I can't give you any spoilers.

I'm also working on a couple of side stories for this A/U story. I have planned a multi-shot of Raven training with the Team, with all of its' chapters published at once. The multi-shot focuses on Raven, M'gann and Aqualad in particular. Not sure when that will be finished. I had hoped to finish it this month, before posting this chapter, but I didn't have the time. That side story will (among other things) show how Raven learned that sword-projection ability she used against Harm here. Not sure if I said this in the last A/N, but Raven's fighting style is going to be a bit different from the Teen Titans cartoon, since the team itself is different.

Also, it was damn hard not to make Raven overpowered. Even now, I sort of feel that I failed in that regard. Originally, I was planning to have all three heroes captured by Harm, as they were in the original episode. Didn't work out that way.

And thank you to all reviewers. In particular, zeno518 said he can't see the Raven/Kaldur pairing and to be honest, I'm not certain about the pairing myself. Raven is the kind of character that works perfectly fine without having a pairing attached to her. So I ask myself, why fix what isn't broken? I remain undecided about the pairing. Maybe I'll write it into this story. Maybe I'll write one-shots about the pairing if I ever have the free time. Maybe I'll leave the whole possibility to be exploredby authors who truly enjoy shipping. Honestly, I'm not sure how much I'd enjoy writing a ship-fic. I've read some brilliant Robin/Raven and Raven/Starfire fics I've really enjoyed... and I've read a lot of failed ones that take both members of the pairing so far out of character that they ruin the whole story.


	7. Fate and Fire Teaser

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Young Justice, Teen Titans, Raven or any other character featured in this story.

Be sure to read the A/N at the end of the teaser.

Chapter 7 Teaser

* * *

The Batcave  
November 4,19:03 EDT

* * *

It was a slow evening for the Boy Wonder, who stared away at a number of holographic screens in the Batcave. Since Batman had no missions for the Team, everyone had gone to tend to their own business. Raven was teaching some magic thing to Zatanna. Aqualad, Artemis and KF were visiting relatives and Megan had gone out on a date with Conner.

Robin had hoped this slow day would pick up in the evening, with him doing the Dynamic Duo thing with Batman. But no... Instead, Batman had told him to study supervillain profiles. Again. He had complained, of course, but it was no more effective than usual. So he was now skipping over profile pages, going over names and faces he'd seen a thousand times already. Bane, Mammoth (aka Baran Flinders), Brother Blood...

_Wait, what was that last one? _Robin blinks, immediately alert when he realizes he hasn't heard that name before. He goes back to the profile and starts reading intently... only to discover that Batman has very little information about him. Unknown magical abilities. Leader of a creepy cult that was broken up by Green Arrow, Black Canary and Zatanna. Hasn't said a single word since capture. All information on his profile is sourced to a single incident report of his capture. That link in turn leads Robin to Raven's team profile. Which is encrypted. And also open in fifteen seconds.

And very minimal, much to the frustration of the Boy Wonder. Apparently, Raven is her actual first name, not just a hero name. And her birth date (November 7th, 1995), which is surprisingly coming up soon. And finally a list of superpowers and skills, which Robin already knew. Though why she would classify the file league-only eluded Robin for the time being, since there was nothing incriminating in there.  
_She hasn't told anyone her birthday's coming up. Well, I think Megan will be happy to throw a party for her. If anyone on the team needs a bit of cheer in their life, it's her. _Robin smiles to himself before going on with his assigned task of supervillain profiles.

A few minutes later, a paranoid thought hit him. All the information in Raven's file was volunteered by Raven herself. No third party confirmation. He silently frowns _So how much is she keeping secret?_

* * *

A/N: Right. It's been quite a while. When I continued writing this fic again, I immediately remembered why I was having trouble with the chapter to begin with. I had two possible ways for how this chapter could go. The first option was Zatanna putting on the Helmet of Fate and Raven then confronting Nabu about it. The other option was Raven putting on the helmet herself. So, after two more weeks of considering the matter, I've decided to hand it to you, dear readers.

Cast your votes in reviews, I'll count your votes and write the second half of the story accordingly. The deadline is August 14th, so you can hope for the full chapter to be posted around the end of August. Or rather, this teaser will be replaced with the full chapter.


End file.
